at left and bottom: detail from the painting "Taxonomic Mandala" by former BEL member Dion Wright
As Patty mentioned earlier, The Brotherhood of Eternal Love started out as a pseudo-religious organization and, ironically, incorporated themselves as such just a few days after LSD became illegal in the US. The idea was that all of life is interconnected, and that LSD is the sacrament that allows one to realize one's true purpose and place in the universe. Tim Leary associated with the BEL and wrote a book based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead entitled The Psychedelic Experience that was a supposed "user's guide" to the drug. In it, he wrote of "dying in one's mind," which was taken from the eighth century philosopher Padmasambhava's notion that "the chikhai bardo (or the moment of death) features the experience of the 'clear light of reality', or at least the nearest approximation of which one is spiritually capable."
Dying in one's mind. Hmmmmm. Heard that one before?
However, Patty digresses. Is it pure coincidence that both the BEL and The Family lived in and frequented some of the same places (London, Hawaii, Oregon, San Francisco, Mendocino County)?
1) Could Bruce going to London have anything to do with drug smuggling?
2) What were The Witches doing in Mendocino, anyway? Why weren't they back at Spahn with their beloved leader? Could they have been running a safehouse instead of or in addition to a brothel? Could CHP Officer Dulaney's wife (Clyda) and mother (Nancy) have been murdered because he was getting too close to "the truth"?
3) Could Ruth Ann have disappeared on Barbara Hoyt in Honolulu to hop over to Maui and pick up a shipment? What kind of LSD was in that burger, anyway, and where did it come from?
4) Where did the Family get most of their LSD, for that matter? Did people really just give Charlie things because he was so enlightened, or was the money coming from something else? Was it weird that Charlie shared his space, his women, his weapons and everything else with a bunch of bikers?
5) Who ended up distributing MDMA in Los Angeles after Voytek was killed?
6) Did Rosemary's family history and Leno's money have anything to do with Mexican marijuana?
1) Could Bruce going to London have anything to do with drug smuggling?
2) What were The Witches doing in Mendocino, anyway? Why weren't they back at Spahn with their beloved leader? Could they have been running a safehouse instead of or in addition to a brothel? Could CHP Officer Dulaney's wife (Clyda) and mother (Nancy) have been murdered because he was getting too close to "the truth"?
3) Could Ruth Ann have disappeared on Barbara Hoyt in Honolulu to hop over to Maui and pick up a shipment? What kind of LSD was in that burger, anyway, and where did it come from?
4) Where did the Family get most of their LSD, for that matter? Did people really just give Charlie things because he was so enlightened, or was the money coming from something else? Was it weird that Charlie shared his space, his women, his weapons and everything else with a bunch of bikers?
5) Who ended up distributing MDMA in Los Angeles after Voytek was killed?
6) Did Rosemary's family history and Leno's money have anything to do with Mexican marijuana?
Uh huh, these are the makings of some awesome conspiracy theories. But, are they that far out? Maybe...probably...but the circumstantial evidence is compelling, and Patty's got still more..
OK, I'll bite, since I just read Niklolas Schreck's book. If the TLB murders were a drug burn, and if one believes that Rosemary Labianca was a syndicate sanctioned LSD wholesaler, then one would imagine that LSD would not be in short supply in the Family in the days and months following the murders. One would also imagine that the local drug dealing scene would be an unfriendly place to unload massive quantities of stolen drugs (and perhaps other things of value), so a trip to Europe might be seen as beneficial.
ReplyDeleteI liked the book, it provides a lot of material to mull over, but you have to accept certain premises which are probably not provable at this point in time, like Mrs. Labianca being a syndicate drug dealer for one thing. It sounds plausible and would explain a lot, but is there any proof?
For a fee of $25,000, paid by The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, the Weathermen smuggled Timothy Leary (freshly smuggled out of detention) and his wife, Rosemary Woodruff Leary, out of the United States and into Algeria after collecting him in a pickup truck driven by Clayton Van Lydegraf. He sought the patronage of Eldridge Cleaver and the remnants of the Black Panther party's "government in exile." After staying with them for a short time, Leary claimed that Cleaver attempted to hold him and his wife hostage.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Family goes, I dont buy it, unless they were being used by somone else. The Family never had enough money to account for any high profile crimes or syndicates. They were always just barely getting by. You don't think they dumpster dived because they wanted to??
ReplyDeleteFor my money, questions 5 and 6 may be the key to the whole enchilada.
ReplyDeleteWeird timing....
ReplyDeleteI just came on to go to the older post to tell you I just got this book today- and here is a new post on the topic...
you intrigued me Patty- quite excited to start the book tonight!!
Thanks for the tip
ur welcome, ST. The Schou book fyi has less detail overall but more info about so cal. The other book is far more comprehensive but focuses on operations in Europe, Africa and Asia. Both, however, make Timothy Leary look like a real jerk off.
ReplyDeleteI have the Schou book but will probably read the other one after...
ReplyDeleteThanks again...
If charlie's orders were to continue murdering people down Cielo, and if Linda's testimony is true regarding Saladin Nader, the white sports car, and the priest - that rules out drugs for me.
ReplyDeleteOne interesting fact that I had glossed over, but read on another site, is that Voytek and Rosemary took the majority of the beatings.
Were they the targets, or did they just put up a good fight?
Agreed, Starship. If this scenario holds water then the logical next step would be to see who would have benefitted. What bothers me is that he was living with Gibby Folger. A better business plan would have been for him to poke holes in her diaphragm!
ReplyDeleteAnd wasn't Rosemary far more liquid than Leno?
The top pic reminds me of the girls embroidery.
ReplyDeleteJiri, you imply that Voytek was the target. Ever think that it was somebody else living in the same house, and that Sharon wasn't supposed to be there?
ReplyDeleteJiri,
ReplyDeleteYour business plan makes sense and it's funny too!
@Liz: the original painting is 11x8 feet and hung in the back room of the BEL's headshop in Laguna Beach. The headshop never did much in the way of legitimate sales (hint hint)and mysteriously burned down around '71. However, the painting miraculously survived. Some time ago, Dion Wright offered it up for the nominal fee of $150K. Patty is not sure if he sold it or not.
ReplyDeletePatty also wonders, now that you said it, if the girls' embroidery may have been at least partially inspired by Wright's art?
I don't think his style is unique enough to be considered an influence on the girl's embroidery. It is more likely that they were both influenced by the same thing, drugs.
ReplyDeleteDion Wright's "Taxonomic Mandala" is still for sale for $150,000: http://www.dionwright.com/mandala.htm.
ReplyDelete